Railway brake beam support chair



- Sept. 9, 1958 J. HOLDEN I 2,851,130

RAILWAY BRAKE BEAM SUPPORT CHAIR Filed Jan. 17, 1955 INVENTOR. /6 WUnited States Paten RAILWAY BRAKE BEAM SUPPQRT CHAIR John Holden,Chicago, 111., assignor to Chicago Railway Equipment Company, Chicago,111., a corporation of Illinois Application January 17, 1955, Serial No.482,020

2 Claims. (Cl. 188-410) The invention relates to railway brake beams andconsists in an improved chair for application to a truss type brake beamto engage an elongated member underlying the beam and guide the beam inits movement to and from the associated wheel and, if necessary, tosupport the beam in the event 'of failure or undue wear of the normalbeam support.

The device is of the type which is frictionally clamped to the maincompression and tension members of the beam and such devices are likelyto loosen up, either by wear due to vibration or improper application tothe beam. Even a slight loosening of a bolt nut or other holding partbecomes progressively worse after continued service, developingadditional wear on either or both the chair or the beam. If the beam isremoved from the truck and scrapped and the worn chair salvaged forinstallation on a new beam, the uncertain fit of the worn parts of thechair to the new beam is even more likely to result in loosening of thechair.

The main object of the invention is to adapt a chair of this type forready and satisfactory tight application to a beam so as to avoid theloosening, wear, and other disadvantages resulting from use of thepresent chairs.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating a selected embodiment of theinvention,

Figure 1 is a top view of one end portion of a brake beam to which theimproved support chair is applied, the adjacent portion of a wheel andtruck side frame mounting a support and guide also being shown.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 2-2 ofFigure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 33of Figure 1.

The truck is indicated by a wheel 1, an axle 2, and a side frame 3,which is mounted upon the axle through the usual bearing and journalbox, not shown. The frame includes a bracket 4 extending inwardly of thetruck and terminating in a downwardly facing channel portion receiving atwo piece support consisting of bars 5 and 6, secured in place by a pinor bolt 7 and extending outwardly beyond the bracket to provide a stillsupport adjacent to the bracket and a relatively yielding support spacedfrom the bracket.

The brake beam includes a channel compression member 8, a rectangularbar tension member 9, the end portions of members 8 and 9 converging andbeing secured together by a brake head 10 and a rivet 11 passing throughthe head and members 8 and 9.

The support chair consists of two parts 12, 13, pivotally connected by arivet 14 and clamped to channel member 8 by a bolt 15. Part 12 underliestension member 9. The right hand end of part 12 terminates in adownwardly extending convex shoe 16 slidable on the outer portion of bar6. Part 13 has an upstanding flange 13a for seating the head 15a of thebolt. Part 12 has an upstanding flange 12a for seating one end of a coilspring 17, which is compressed by a nut 18 applied to its other end.

Preferably part 12-is apertured to receive a button 19 of rubber-likematerial forming a pad engaging the lower portion of strap 9 which isgripped between a horizontal flange 1211 on the chair and the mainhorizontal body portion of the chair.

With this arrangement, a tight gripping of the beam parts is insuredwhen the chair is first applied and is maintained throughout the life ofthe chair, irrespective of vibrations and the penetration of water anddirt to the joints between the chair and the brake beam and tensionmembers and any resulting wear. The chair may be removed from one beamand applied to another successively irrespective of variations inmanufacturing tolerances of the chair parts or of the beam parts.

The details of the structure may be varied without departing from thespirit of the invention and the exelusive use of those modificationscoming within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. A railway brake beam support chair for a truss type brake beam havingcompression and tension members converging toward each other, comprisinga pair of upstanding parts pivotally connected at their lower ends andeach having vertically spaced elements projecting toward the other part,said elements cooperating to engage opposite sides of a brake beamcompression member, an arm extending from the lower portion of one ofsaid parts at the side of the latter opposite its compression memberengaging elements, there being a projection on the upper portion of thelatter mentioned part spaced above said arm and cooperating with thelatter to form a channellike recess opening toward the outer end of thearm to receive a brake beam tension member, clamp means extendingbetween the upper portions of said parts to grip a brake beamcompression member between said parts to hold the support to the beam,said means including an automatic spring take-up device which maintainsthe grip of the parts on the beam compression member if the chair shiftsalong the beam, there being a yielding seat on said arm for a brake beamtension member received in said recess.

2. In a railway brake beam including a compression member and a tensionmember having portions spaced apart in the general plane of the beam, asupport chair mounted on both of said members and comprising clamp partshaving laterally opening recesses facing each other and receiving thecompression member between them, a bolt provided with a head element anda nut element which oppose, respectively, faces on the two clamp partsfacing away from said recesses, one of said clamp parts havingvertically spaced projections extending transversely of the beam awayfrom said compression member and outwardly above and below the adjacentportion of the tension member and forming a pair of jaws openingPatented Sept. 9, 1958 away from the compression member, the lower ofsaid projections terminating in a downwardly facing bearing adapted toengage a supporting track, there being a coil spring compressed betweenone of said bolt elements and the opposing clamp part and yieldinglythrusting the clamp parts against the compression member and holdingsaid arm to the beam tension member and compensating for vibrations,manufacturing inequalities, wear and movement of the chair along thebeam, said lower projection terminating in a bearing being provided witha pad of yielding material engaging the bottom of the beam tensionmember and cooperating with the coil spring to secure the support chairin position on the beam.

References Cited in the fiie of'this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSHawkins Nov. 22, Busse Jan. 12, Busse Jan. 18, Ekholm et al. Mar. 12,Busse Apr. 9, Light May 21, Busse Oct. 1, Busch Apr. 15, Busse Sept. 4,

